Waterbeds have been in widespread use for many years and consist generally of a flexible, hollow plastic shell and a supporting frame. Waterbeds support the weight of a human body at all points and were first developed for medical use, although they have now gained common acceptance for residential use.
Much development in the use, care, and added accessories for waterbeds has taken place. A fundamental and long-standing problem in the sale and ownership of a waterbed has been in draining the water from the mattress. A number of new inventions have been patented concerning the draining of waterbeds, but these innovations have involved syphon or Venturi type pumps. Examples of such waterbed pumps are found in the U.S. Pat. Nos. of Mollura (3,797,538); Houk (4,332,044) and Callaway (4,399,576). Each of these inventions advanced the art of draining waterbeds, but each failed to provide for any type of electrically assisted pumping.
Heretofore, the normal draining operation of a waterbed could take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours by use of the syphon method. The more efficient pumps require two long hoses to stretch between the waterbed drain-filler neck and a suitable sink, bathtub, or outside drain and uses a large amount of tap water to facilitate the syphoning process. Because a syphon pump requires the drawing of a partial vacuum, the hoses used in these procedures also had to be rigid.
The new innovation presented here includes an electrically enhanced pump. Because of the nature of an electric pump, moreover, a base or boot has been adapted to keep the electric pump in an upright position on the waterbed as the waterbed deflates from the removal of water therefrom.
Although large sized electric bilge pumps have been borrowed from the boat field, these larger pumps are not commercially practical for the average consumer. What was needed heretofore was a light weight yet highly efficient and economical electric waterbed pump. To enable the commercialization of such a pump especially adapted to the waterbed industry, certain modification of existing pump and pumping art are presented herein.
A primary purpose of this invention is to provide a lightweight, highly efficient and economical pump particularly adapted for use on waterbeds.
Another purpose is to provide a commercially feasible pump for a waterbed capable of draining a waterbed in a short period of time, usually under two hours, using electromotive force.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a base or boot for the lightweight waterbed pump that enables said pump to remain in an upright position as the waterbed draws.
Further objects of this invention will become obvious upon reviewing the specification herewith.